An Introduction That Matters Anonymous College

The preface of a piece of literature generally provides an introduction by the author to what will be discussed, and often, the purpose of this discussion. Similarly, in Herman Hesse’s Steppenwolf, the reader is introduced to the premise of the novel by a narrator, the nephew, which is actually not the author. In addition to a basic overview of the novel, the nephew gives the reader an outsider perspective as a minor character within the novel. The use of a narrator who illustrates his perception of the main narrator of the novel, Harry Haller to the reader was deliberately employed by Hesse in order to propel the reader to “do as his conscience bids him” (Hesse 22) when interpreting the premise of the novel.

The nephew’s inclination to reflect his emotions towards the records of Steppenwolf serves the ultimate purpose of the preface. This intent is for the reader to differentiate the outsider and the insider perspective: the average white-collar worker versus the one who “lived a suicidal existence” (Hesse 19). Although these vastly different narrators are ordinarily and much too often considered foil characters, it is essential to view the nephew as just an outsider to Harry’s world, but an insider of the bourgeoise society....